Do you really want a Driver’s license in Caracas?
In Venezuela, all official paperwork takes a lot of time. There is lack of information, very weird working hours, lines, things that you have to do online before going to the actual office, but online systems don’t work... I mean everything is a real nightmare. That’s why we procrastinate them all the time.
But, you have to do what you have to do, and even when I don’t own a car, is better to have a license, just in case I can borrow mi dad’s.
So, I asked my friends about the whole drivers license process, and they say, don’t worry, this one is pretty easy, you go there any day at anytime (between 8:00 AM and 12:00 M or 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM) and you will have your new license right away.
Keep in mind that in Venezuela you just need a driver license if you drive, we have a different document for ID. You are entitled to a driver ID when you are 18, then you do a written test and a practice test. Once you have your license for the first time, it’s necessary to renew it every 10 years. You are already in the system, so the process should take no more than a few hours.
There are three things you need to have to renew the license: a photocopy of your ID, a medical certificate and the receipt from a bank deposit you should have done in advance. It sounds so easy...
Medical certificate wasn’t that bad. After a deep research, we made a plan to try to do everything in one day.
I call to one of the places where certificates are issued and they give me the information...
Surprise!, even when I got the information by phone the day before, the working hours where different. They told me 10:00 AM to 12:00M, but it was 12:00M to 2:00 PM. We stay on line for one hour, they give us numbers (because just the first 30 can have the certificate that day) and then we read some letters see some green and pink numbers hide in points and that was it. Off course you have to pay a little amount.
Immediately, we realize it will be impossible to go directly to transit’s office. So we went back home.
A few days after, we are ready to the second part. We ride in subway and bus to El Llanito, inside Petare that is the most dangerous place in the world, and walk towards the office.
Once we get there, there is not information desk or something even close to it. So we ask an officer about the process. He told us we have to get there at 5:00 o’clock in the morning, in the day indicated by the last number on your ID, to be in line to get a number at 7:00 AM. But all that is around the corner.
We wanted more information, but around the corner was a real hell. It was like behind the fence were UN blue helmets with food supplies and on this side of the fence refugees were desperate for a piece of something.
Behind the fence, a public servant with a very dubious diction was shouting, If you don’t organize, you don’t get anything.
They were a few papers tape it on the fence, I tried to read them, but it was clear that we won't be able to do anything at that moment.
We will need another officer to give us more information.
This one told us that 5:00 AM was already too late. At 4:00 AM there are already people on line. I laugh out loud. I mean, there is no way I get there a 4... Remember that President Chavez move back the time by half an hour because at 5 it was dark... well at 4 is pitch black, and again a very very dangerous place.
So we walked out knowing that we will have to look for someone to help us.
That was more than one month ago and still no sign of a driver license. I'm still thinking how to get the things done on this upside down city.
But, you have to do what you have to do, and even when I don’t own a car, is better to have a license, just in case I can borrow mi dad’s.
So, I asked my friends about the whole drivers license process, and they say, don’t worry, this one is pretty easy, you go there any day at anytime (between 8:00 AM and 12:00 M or 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM) and you will have your new license right away.
Keep in mind that in Venezuela you just need a driver license if you drive, we have a different document for ID. You are entitled to a driver ID when you are 18, then you do a written test and a practice test. Once you have your license for the first time, it’s necessary to renew it every 10 years. You are already in the system, so the process should take no more than a few hours.
There are three things you need to have to renew the license: a photocopy of your ID, a medical certificate and the receipt from a bank deposit you should have done in advance. It sounds so easy...
Medical certificate wasn’t that bad. After a deep research, we made a plan to try to do everything in one day.
I call to one of the places where certificates are issued and they give me the information...
Surprise!, even when I got the information by phone the day before, the working hours where different. They told me 10:00 AM to 12:00M, but it was 12:00M to 2:00 PM. We stay on line for one hour, they give us numbers (because just the first 30 can have the certificate that day) and then we read some letters see some green and pink numbers hide in points and that was it. Off course you have to pay a little amount.
Immediately, we realize it will be impossible to go directly to transit’s office. So we went back home.
A few days after, we are ready to the second part. We ride in subway and bus to El Llanito, inside Petare that is the most dangerous place in the world, and walk towards the office.
Once we get there, there is not information desk or something even close to it. So we ask an officer about the process. He told us we have to get there at 5:00 o’clock in the morning, in the day indicated by the last number on your ID, to be in line to get a number at 7:00 AM. But all that is around the corner.
We wanted more information, but around the corner was a real hell. It was like behind the fence were UN blue helmets with food supplies and on this side of the fence refugees were desperate for a piece of something.
Behind the fence, a public servant with a very dubious diction was shouting, If you don’t organize, you don’t get anything.
They were a few papers tape it on the fence, I tried to read them, but it was clear that we won't be able to do anything at that moment.
We will need another officer to give us more information.
This one told us that 5:00 AM was already too late. At 4:00 AM there are already people on line. I laugh out loud. I mean, there is no way I get there a 4... Remember that President Chavez move back the time by half an hour because at 5 it was dark... well at 4 is pitch black, and again a very very dangerous place.
So we walked out knowing that we will have to look for someone to help us.
That was more than one month ago and still no sign of a driver license. I'm still thinking how to get the things done on this upside down city.
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